Officers Save Newborn’s Life after She Was Wrongly Declared Dead

Photo Credit: KpopStarz

A 20-year-old pregnant woman in Toronto, Canada knew she had to get to the hospital early Sunday morning when she began feeling ill. Worried about her baby and determined to get to Humber River Hospital, MSN News reported that she started her journey on foot with her mother.

It was during this same day that the city had sent out an extreme cold alert because the temperatures outside had dropped to a dangerous level, dipping below 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite the below freezing weather, the mother-to-be and her mom kept walking towards the hospital; and while she tried her best to make it there, she ended up going into labor and giving birth outside on the frozen ground.

The mother called 911 and an ambulance rushed over. When they arrived, the newborn baby girl was not responding, so ambulance and hospital staff tried resuscitating her. After multiple failed attempts, they declared the baby dead, according to MSN News.

The baby was then covered with a sheet and the coroner’s office was alerted. According to thestar.com, when the coroner’s office was informed about the baby, they requested that a couple of officers stay with her until the coroner arrived.

Photo Credit: Vince Talotta / Toronto Star

About an hour and a half later, one of the two officers standing by the baby saw some movement underneath the sheet (USA Today). Doctors were then rushed in and confirmed that the baby was, in fact, alive.

Jamie Hutchison, a research director for critical care medicine, shared his opinions on why the hospital staff was unable to detect a pulse earlier that morning, and said that the baby probably had hypothermia.

The two officers are being credited with saving the baby’s life and both of them couldn’t be happier that they were in the room with her during that period of time.

The baby has since been transferred to the Hospital for Sick Children and is reportedly stable.